Pink Asparagus

For a first time visitor, the Toronto Interior Design Show (IDS) held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from January 19th to 23rd, was a great experience. I am an interior decorator in my own life, and I love obscure objects, brass and blush linens. I am experienced in maximalism, penny pinching and refinishing curb side furniture finds. I am also an avid reader of space and design philosophy. I attended the show for the sculptural furniture, the innovative gadgets and the latest ideas in Canadian design. I was not disappointed, but I was sorely reminded that the latest in design typically costs more than a few months of rent in my rent controlled Toronto broom closet bachelor. Regardless, the IDS delivered a well organized and beautifully curated show for a promotional general admission price of $15. 

The IDS ran several engaging seminars, my favorite being The Globe and Mail’s Designing Canada 2023: Living better talk, where style editor Odessa Paloma Parker moderated a discussion with a panel of up and coming Canadian Designers including Chad Falkenberg, Daej Hamilton, Megan Cassidy and Jane Son. The designers looked at how post-pandemic design now prioritizes multi-use practicality over style. Dining chairs are not only for dining, but for learning, working, and writing; comfort and usability are now priorities in dining chair design. 

Megan Cassidy and Jane Son, founders of the Toronto based architectural hardware supplier, Casson Hardware, looked at the shift in Canadian design away from furniture sets and towards compiling unique pieces. Nowadays, Canadians create intensely personal homes through careful piece by piece curation. What was unspoken to this point is that in this economy, few of us can currently imagine being able to afford entire sets of furniture at once. Is my own home carefully curated piece by piece or is it just a collection of everything I could afford that looked good enough to save or refinish? 

Throughout the talk, all three panelists kept reiterating that buyers should look to high quality, long lasting pieces in place of cheaply made pieces from retailers like Ikea and Structube. Jane Son noted that newness no longer indicates luxury, and that true luxury is now owning a high quality piece of furniture that ages with you. Watching a wood wear or a metal patina makes your items become part of your life story, and in turn, makes occupying your home more enjoyable. There is something beautiful and true here; my own favourite furniture pieces are those that have moved with me through the years of my life and the homes I’ve lived in. Yet, there is something sad here as well. Owning high quality furniture is unattainable for those of us who make an average or entry level income. When faced with this, the panelists offered the alternative of buying high quality pieces second hand, which is an extremely helpful tip to avoid Ikea items that fall apart within your first or second time moving them. There is however more to it than buying second hand; with a low income, you absorb all the labor you can’t afford to outsource and become your own designer, woodworker and conceptualist. When I walk down the street and see a chest of drawers on the curb, beat up, the wrong colour and missing some knobs, I budget and conceptualize my next piece: a ton of cleaning, $20 to replace the knobs, an hour or two of sanding, some primer, paint, Modge Podge spray and a furniture project taking up ¾ of my broom closet Toronto bachelor. I think through where the chest would sit, what it would hold, if it has resale value, and if it is worth dragging up the deadly staircase to my apartment. All of this to say, this was an informative and thought provoking panel on the conceptual future of Canadian design. This panel, and the interior design show overall was an incredible experience for all, while being catered to those who can afford high quality, luxury home pieces.

Sara Abdul